Trip Report
So I'm back from the cruise- the weather was terrible (the coldest on record!), and we had a very limited amount of time at each port, so I only got to dive five tanks :sadface: but the dives I did get to do were awesome and have totally ruined Florida diving for me. I got a new camera and strobe ( sadly, I didn't have a strobe on my last dive), so I tried to take a few pics for you guys, but it turns out that underwater photography is quite difficult, and due to the water conditions (currents or visibility) and time restraint- they only came out so-so. My strobe accidentally got switched to overexpose for the first half of my first dive, and the currents in some places necessitated me trying to take the pics while fining in the wrong direction which ended up with me shooting upside down so that I didn't crash into the reef. Ah well, enough excuses, what I really need to do is go on a few shallow shore dives with just one dive buddy to get a better feel for the equipment without being rushed. I guess I'll just have to plan an actual dive trip for April. Anyway...
Grand Cayman 1/11:
Due to rough water conditions, my dive was cancelled! Poop. Oddly, the water looked awfully smooth
Roatan, Honduras 1/12:
Did one and a half tank shore dive at Cocoview (my first dive in a year). It was raining, but I can tell this place is probably unbelievable when the sun is out. Great dive, but I wanted to spear our guide. I was down to 500psi and was giving the thumb up signal- he signals back a "no, no, don't worry" gesture. I then gave two thumbs up w/ an urgent motion when I was down to 250psi. I got the same reaction again. I literally surfaced with an empty tank and snorkeled back to the dock.
Anemone
Banded coral shrimp
Feather duster worm
Brittle star
Tons of hummingbirds around
Cozumel, Mexico 1/13:
Did a two tank drift dive with Dive with Martin. Turns out that my Spanish is still in pretty good shape despite not having used it in six years. The second site reminded me of Avatar's floating mountains. Saw a few sea turtles, an eel, and a giant ray.
This turtle was surrounded by divers, I can't even believe I was able to get a shot w/out anyone in it.
Barracuda
Looks like a clown exploded- blue chromis
Not a great pic, but love the colors- stoplight parrotfish
A pic my brother (my dive buddy) took of me on our safety stop. Blue w/ lots of bubbles and backscatter, but I like it's effect here for a change
Eleuthera, Bahamas 1/15:
A one tank boat dive, well, we were really only allowed to dive half a tank ;( This dive had really cool animals- but the reef was so colorless compared to the previous dives. It's just spoiled for me now. Also went w/ six other divers, while considered a small group (compared to the 35 diver cattle boats) I like to dive w/ three people max- it was too much, couldn't take pics of everything because there were always six other divers waiting to see each thing- also got finned in the head a lot...
Flamingo tongues
Spiny lobster
Again not a good pic, couldn't get close enough to use a strobe- but this porcupine fish was sooo cute w/ it's big puppy eyes. You can't tell from this, but it was the size of a medium built dog. I didn't know they got so big!
All in all a fun trip, but definitely not a real dive trip. I'd like to go to Costa Rica or somewhere fun in April, but I need to get Don to get his ass certified first!
Grand Cayman 1/11:
Due to rough water conditions, my dive was cancelled! Poop. Oddly, the water looked awfully smooth
Roatan, Honduras 1/12:
Did one and a half tank shore dive at Cocoview (my first dive in a year). It was raining, but I can tell this place is probably unbelievable when the sun is out. Great dive, but I wanted to spear our guide. I was down to 500psi and was giving the thumb up signal- he signals back a "no, no, don't worry" gesture. I then gave two thumbs up w/ an urgent motion when I was down to 250psi. I got the same reaction again. I literally surfaced with an empty tank and snorkeled back to the dock.
Anemone
Banded coral shrimp
Feather duster worm
Brittle star
Tons of hummingbirds around
Cozumel, Mexico 1/13:
Did a two tank drift dive with Dive with Martin. Turns out that my Spanish is still in pretty good shape despite not having used it in six years. The second site reminded me of Avatar's floating mountains. Saw a few sea turtles, an eel, and a giant ray.
This turtle was surrounded by divers, I can't even believe I was able to get a shot w/out anyone in it.
Barracuda
Looks like a clown exploded- blue chromis
Not a great pic, but love the colors- stoplight parrotfish
A pic my brother (my dive buddy) took of me on our safety stop. Blue w/ lots of bubbles and backscatter, but I like it's effect here for a change
Eleuthera, Bahamas 1/15:
A one tank boat dive, well, we were really only allowed to dive half a tank ;( This dive had really cool animals- but the reef was so colorless compared to the previous dives. It's just spoiled for me now. Also went w/ six other divers, while considered a small group (compared to the 35 diver cattle boats) I like to dive w/ three people max- it was too much, couldn't take pics of everything because there were always six other divers waiting to see each thing- also got finned in the head a lot...
Flamingo tongues
Spiny lobster
Again not a good pic, couldn't get close enough to use a strobe- but this porcupine fish was sooo cute w/ it's big puppy eyes. You can't tell from this, but it was the size of a medium built dog. I didn't know they got so big!
All in all a fun trip, but definitely not a real dive trip. I'd like to go to Costa Rica or somewhere fun in April, but I need to get Don to get his ass certified first!